For
fast-growth companies, the cloud is a valuable resource to strategically manage
and transform their core service and offerings. While the cloud can equip
companies with the tools needed to dramatically grow, scale, and advance their operations,
companies are often challenged identifying where and how to begin leveraging
the cloud.
ConnectEDU, an education-focused platform which helps over 20 million users manage their education and career paths, has used the cloud to transform and dramatically scale in the past four years. The company recognized it needed a flexible, cost-effective and efficient IT infrastructure that could accommodate seasonal spikes in demand. The company also needed to establish a technical foundation for long term growth.
ConnectEDU, an education-focused platform which helps over 20 million users manage their education and career paths, has used the cloud to transform and dramatically scale in the past four years. The company recognized it needed a flexible, cost-effective and efficient IT infrastructure that could accommodate seasonal spikes in demand. The company also needed to establish a technical foundation for long term growth.
ConnectEDU
began employing NaviSite’s managed hosting and database administration services
in 2009. As a leading provider of cloud
enabled enterprise hosting and application management services, NaviSite offers
a comprehensive suite of customized ‘-as-a-Service’ solutions. This suite enables companies to reduce the
cost and complexity of IT and focus on their true business priorities. In
addition to hosting and administration services, ConnectEDU was also looking to
leverage NaviSite’s security offerings, strong customer service, and customized
architecture.
When
NaviSite announced its Managed Cloud Services, ConnectEDU seized the
opportunity to leverage the cloud to scale and grow its services and
applications. For example, NaviSite
supported ConnectEDU through the launch of its SuperApp, which simplifies and
speeds the entire college application process – from gathering supporting
documents, such as letters of recommendations and transcripts, to completing
and submitting the application. ConnectEDU also saw an opportunity to use the
cloud for a planned state-by-state rollout of a new student portal.
NaviSite’s high performance, enterprise-class
managed services offering was uniquely suited to address the requirements of
ConnectEDU’s IT environment, and helped ConnectEDU:
Scale: ConnectEDU needed to accommodate
seasonal demand spikes and continuing customer growth. Once on NaviSite’s
cloud platform, ConnectEDU used AppCenter, a web-based management tool, to
create its IT environments. This allowed ConnectEDU to quickly build and tear
down development and QA environments, as well as ratchet CPU and RAM resources
up – or down – to complete performance-related tasks in shorter time periods.
Comply: ConnectEDU needed to comply
with federal regulations that govern the handling of confidential student
records, data, and credit card information. All NaviCloud-enabled
data centers are SSAE-16 compliant - an internationally recognized auditing
standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants- and
undergo regular and rigorous reviews of policies, practices, and security
measures. This certification enabled NaviSite to work closely with ConnectEDU
to ensure full compliance with all regulations and standards. In addition to
meeting all regulatory requirements, NaviSite leveraged its highly secure data
center and information management practices to ensure all of ConnectEDU’s data
was stored in the most secure environment available.
Lower TCO: ConnectEDU looked to the cloud
as a more cost-efficient alternative to traditional hosting. By taking
advantage of NaviSite’s innovative usage-based billing model, ConnectEDU was
able to pay only for the resources they actually consumed, reducing cost by
more than 30 percent.
Improve
Business Continuity: ConnectEDU
required integrated disaster recovery to ensure that applications and data
could be quickly recovered. NaviSite’s
MCS platform, with its geographically distributed footprint and enabling
technologies such as replication, enable customers to implement disaster recovery
as part of their service. This, combined
with a state-of-the-art operations center and a highly resilient service
delivery infrastructure spanning multiple data centers, allows for increased
efficiency and reduced risk.
By
leveraging NaviSite’s flexible, cloud-based infrastructure, ConnectEDU is now
positioned to handle continued business growth and ambitiously take on
additional business opportunities.
About David Grimes:
As
NaviSite’s Cloud Expert, David Grimes is an innovative technology visionary
responsible for the strategic direction of the company’s architecture and
solutions. He has been instrumental in leading both the design and development
of the NaviCloud platform.
Prior to
joining NaviSite, David was a lead software engineer at AppliedTheory, where he
was a key member of the team responsible for developing the patented content
delivery technology DeltaEdge. David joined NaviSite in 2002 through the
acquisition of Clear Blue where he was responsible for overseeing all internal
and operational support systems. Under his leadership, he led the transition to
an in-house platform that resulted in 50% infrastructure cost reduction. David
is a graduate of Syracuse University and holds a Bachelors of Science and
Masters in Computer Engineering.
No comments:
Post a Comment